Legal views – Page 105
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CommentA painful case
Sometimes contractors just get fed up with a job, and it grinds to a halt. When something like that happened to Birse, it got sacked. Then it got the bill …
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CommentListen, this is important
Delay analysis is too pivotal to disputes to remain shrouded in mystery or to be left to the experts. Here’s what you must understand about the four main techniques …
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Sort out your papers
The laws on illegal workers are set to get tougher, so make sure your procedures are watertight now
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CommentYou’re mistaken, m’lud
In Carillion vs Devonport, the Court of Appeal was right to back an adjudicator’s decision to award interest, but in doing so it made some unhelpful comments …
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CommentPeople who care
A faulty load transfer platform caused a block of luxury flats to sink. The consulting engineer didn’t design the platform, but could it be liable for the problem?
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CommentDangerous liaisons
This week we have two industry reports that reveal contractors’ cavalier attitude to risk, starting with what industry executives will do to secure work …
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CommentI’m feeling a bit fuzzy
Fuzzy-edge disease’ strikes when a contract does not clearly allocate design responsibilities. Emcor Drake & Scull tried to inoculate itself, but it got caught out
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CommentEvents, dear boy
New rules on compensation events in the third edition of the New Engineering Contract mean it is fraught with difficulties for the unwary employer
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CommentDrop the dead duck
A collapsed roof at a superstore started a chain of events that demonstrates the foolishness of risking indemnity costs when a claim looks certain to fail
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CommentBehind the veil
This is a murky tale of one man, three companies and a lot of fly-tipping. It also illustrates how the courts will look at who truly controls a company …
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CommentSuit yourself
The JCT has embraced the digital age with a service promising quick, clean documents that are precisely tailored to the job they cover
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CommentCold comfort
This week’s energy special continues in the legal pages, and to kick us off we have a severe weather warning from Building’s answer to Michael Fish
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CommentConsider the evidence
After an accident such as Hatfield, prosecutors come under pressure to launch a case. But too often they go ahead without having a leg to stand on
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Handled with care
A new accreditation scheme is offering training and indemnity insurance to construction professionals taking on the vital role of asbestos inspectors
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On being naughty
Is this a cautionary tale of an innocent subcontractor hounded by the big bad tax man? Or was its ‘minor and technical’ infraction actually something more?
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Cut to the quick
Continuing from last week: you may not have time to examine every line in a contract, so here are key clauses you need to spot and the potential traps to avoid
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CommentStory time is over
It’s time to stop the lying in adjudication and arbitration. Let’s attach a ‘statement of truth’ to referral or response papers, and make clients and lawyers sign it
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Before you sign …
Ideally lawyers will go through a contract with a fine-tooth comb, but if you only have a couple of hours to check it yourself, here are the key points to watch for
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Smile, you’re on camera
Delay and disruption disputes are horrendously complicated, but there is a practical way to back up your claim – take regular photographs of the works from day one